Corning Adds LCD Glass Capacity in Taiwan.Expansion of Taichung facility to support rapidly growing Taiwan market CORNING, N.Y. -- Corning Incorporated Corning Incorporated NYSE: GLW is an American manufacturer of glass, ceramics and related materials, primarily for industrial and scientific applications. The company was known until 1989 as Corning Glass Works. (NYSE NYSE See: New York Stock Exchange :GLW GLW Glasgow Airport (UK) GLW Gross Laden Weight GLW Good Lady Wife (Australia) ) announced today that its board of directors has approved a capital expenditure plan of $453 million to further expand its liquid crystal display liquid crystal display (LCD) Optoelectronic device used in displays for watches, calculators, notebook computers, and other electronic devices. Current passed through specific portions of the liquid crystal solution causes the crystals to align, blocking the passage of light. (LCD) glass substrate manufacturing facility in Taichung, Taiwan. This will be the fourth phase of expansion for the Taichung facility, which opened in 2006. The additional capacity enables greater manufacturing capabilities for a range of large-size substrates, including Generation (Gen) 8. The expenditure will be incurred over the next two years, with mass production scheduled to begin by the first quarter of 2009. Production will continue to come online through the end of 2009. These expenditures are included in the company's previously announced 2008 capital spending capital spending Spending for long-term assets such as factories, equipment, machinery, and buildings that permits the production of more goods and services in future years. estimates. The Taichung facility manufactures Gen 5 and larger glass substrates, suited to meet the high demand of the LCD TV A flat panel TV that uses LCD technology or a rear-projection TV that is based on LCD microdisplay panels. See flat panel TV, rear-projection TV and LCD. market. The glass manufactured at the facility is Corning's award-winning EAGLE XG[TM] glass composition, the first glass substrate to contain no added heavy metals heavy metals, n.pl metallic compounds, such as aluminum, arsenic, cadmium, lead, mercury, and nickel. Exposure to these metals has been linked to immune, kidney, and neurotic disorders. or halides. "As consumers express their clear preference for LCD televisions, the industry is growing at a rapid rate, and we are continuing to develop the Taichung facility in order to keep pace with projected demand," said James P. Clappin, president, Corning Display Technologies. "The high demand for LCD TV panels has translated to accelerated growth for our customers in Taiwan," said Alan T. Eusden, president, Corning Display Technologies Taiwan. "Corning is focused on meeting customer supply agreements to support panel manufacturers' ongoing advancement." Over the past two years, the 40-inch-and-above LCD TV market has been a primary driver of growth for LCD glass demand. This growth in glass demand is expected to continue, partly driven by the emergence of 50-inch-and-larger LCD TVs. Corning will provide more details on the growth of the overall LCD glass substrate market at its annual investor relations Investor relations The process by which the corporation communicates with its investors. meeting on Feb. 8 in New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of . About Corning Incorporated Corning Incorporated (www.corning.com) is the world leader in specialty glass and ceramics. Drawing on more than 150 years of materials science and process engineering knowledge, Corning creates and makes keystone components that enable high-technology systems for consumer electronics, mobile emissions control, telecommunications and life sciences. Our products include glass substrates for LCD televisions, computer monitors and laptops; ceramic substrates and filters for mobile emission control systems; optical fiber, cable, hardware & equipment for telecommunications networks; optical biosensors for drug discovery; and other advanced optics and specialty glass solutions for a number of industries including semiconductor, aerospace, defense, astronomy and metrology. Forward-Looking and Cautionary Statements This press release contains forward-looking statements that involve a variety of business risks and other uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially. These risks and uncertainties include the possibility of changes in global economic and political conditions; currency fluctuations; product demand and industry capacity; competition; manufacturing efficiencies; cost reductions; availability of critical components and materials; new product commercialization; changes in the mix of sales between premium and non-premium products; new plant start-up costs; possible disruption in commercial activities due to terrorist activity, armed conflict, political instability or major health concerns; adequacy of insurance; equity company activities; acquisition and divestiture activities; the level of excess or obsolete inventory Obsolete Inventory Term that refers to inventory that is at the end of its product life cycle and has not seen any sales or usage for a set period of time usually determined by the industry. This type of inventory has to be written down and can cause large losses for a company. ; the rate of technology change; the ability to enforce patents; product and components performance issues; stock price fluctuations; and adverse litigation An action brought in court to enforce a particular right. The act or process of bringing a lawsuit in and of itself; a judicial contest; any dispute. When a person begins a civil lawsuit, the person enters into a process called litigation. or regulatory developments. Additional risk factors are identified in Corning's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the day that they are made, and Corning undertakes no obligation to update them in light of new information or future events. |
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